Rob McElhenny and his Wrexham FC co-owner are now more or less gods in the north Wales city and to a few football fans at least, but the Hollywood star, who had never met Deadpool's Reynolds before they embarked on their football journey, is a huge star in his own right and beloved by millions of comedy fans across the world thanks to his long-running comedy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Thanks to Welcome to Wrexham and he and Reynolds' journey, you can read all about Ryan here, McElhenny has introduced Wales to the world, with stars like Paul Rudd, Joe Russo and Will Ferrell popping to Wrexham FC, who were promoted to the Football League this spring, more on that, here.
But who is McElhenney and why has Always Sunny's appeal endured? Find out more below. You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.
Set in Rob's hometown of Philly, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which he stars in as Ronald "Mac" McDonald has been running since 2005 and is the longest-running live-action sitcom on TV. His idea for a sitcom starring himself, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day came from a suggestion originally made by one of his closest childhood friends. His commitment to the show was proved when for the seventh series, in 2011, he gained 60 lbs of extra weight for his role. He also grew out his beard and changed his appearance to give extra humour to his character, who was known for his vanity, and to add a new comedic direction for the season.
Amazingly, he lost 23lbs in a month when filming on season seven ended then ahead of its 13th series, Rob hired the same trainer as Channing Tatum used on Magic Mike to get into shape. His determination and dedication is just as evident in his loyalty to Wrexham.
The 46-year-old star isn't the only famous one in his family, he met and married actress, Kaitlin Olson, who he hired to play Dee Reynolds in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2005. Kaitlin has also starred in the TV series The Mick, the 2016 film Finding Dory and her and Rob married in 2008. They have two sons together, Axel Lee and Leo Grey. Y
Rob also has a famous cousin, Marcus McElhenney who is an Olympic rower. Marcus won bronze in the men's eight in the 2008 Beijing Olympics for America.
He has also created the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest which he also stars in and so does Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins. Rob told Variety how Anthony became involved.
He said: "Craig Mazin said, ‘Oh I know Anthony Hopkins’ lawyer, let’s just call him up.’ And within 20 minutes I’m talking to Anthony Hopkins.” and found out that Anthony's home in Los Angeles is just "a block and a half" away from him.
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